Genesis 37:36

"And the Midianites sold him into Egypt unto Potiphar, an officer of Pharaoh's, the captain of the guard."

This verse verifies our interpretation of Ishmaelites and Midianites as the same people, for, otherwise, the passage would say that the Midianites sold him to the Ishmaelites, and then the Ishmaelites sold him back to the Midianites, and then that the Midianites again sold him finally into Egypt. As Willis commented, "That makes no sense."[21]

Some scholars make a point out of the fact that the basic meaning of Potiphar's name is "eunuch," but, since he was married, the term evidently cannot have that meaning here. In the course of languages, many words change their meaning from their basic denotation to other meanings quite foreign to the root meaning of the words. For example. "Steward" is a highly regarded English word, but it is derived from "stig-ward," meaning keeper of the sty, an old Anglo-Saxon term. But later George Washington's "Chief Steward" was a man of impeccable social standing and of great authority.

Here, then, is the conclusion of the events of this chapter, leaving Reuben filled with remorse, Jacob in perpetual mourning, and Joseph (the future savior of the nation) a slave to one of Pharaoh's officers in Egypt! The fortunes of Israel appear very low at this point. What about the brothers? There is no hint here of their guilty consciences, but later, when Judah rose to a spiritual eminence rarely equaled in his unselfish offering of himself in the place of Benjamin when they all stood before Joseph in Egypt, it indicated that during the long interval then beginning God would be working on the hearts of the sinful brothers also.